No abstract

Background: The methods most commonly used to measure malarial antibody titres are the Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT), regarded as the gold standard, and the Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). The objective here was to assess the diagnostic performance, i.e. the sensitivity and specificity, of a new malaria antibody ELISA kit in comparison to IFAT. This new ELISA kit, the ELISA malaria antibody test (DiaMed), uses a combination of crude soluble Plasmodium falciparum extract and recombinant Plasmodium vivax antigens.

The performance of the ELISA test in this study has confirmed its potential as a new screening test for use in blood banks, as an alternative to the IFAT in prevention of transfusion-transmitted malaria in non-endemic countries.

a Refers to cases when mother is CMV negative. b Refers to cases when recipient and donor are CMV negative.

The screening assay was studied in terms of specificity and practicality and was found to be suitable for use in routine testing of blood donations. However, throughput must be enhanced by automation of the assay, and traceability would be improved if automated systems were used to distribute and identify samples.